


The Story of Meow

by BridgetMcKennitt



Category: Fifth Element (1997)
Genre: Bonding, Gen, Missing Scene, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-24
Updated: 2014-12-24
Packaged: 2018-02-25 01:45:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2604011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BridgetMcKennitt/pseuds/BridgetMcKennitt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Life was in the crapper after Korben got out of the military. Now there was a cat in his life and he couldn't get rid of her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Story of Meow

**Author's Note:**

  * For [donutsweeper](https://archiveofourown.org/users/donutsweeper/gifts).



Korben didn't mean to get a cat. He'd just left the military and found a shitty job at a cab company. His wife and lawyer left him for each other. Korben knew life handed him a crap situation and it wasn't going to get any better any time soon. Owning a cat just wasn't in the cards.

Then again, Korben had always been a sucker for a damsel in distress.

He found her backed against a corner of an alley with some rough looking guys throwing rocks at her. Her white fur was stained with soot and and she was baring her teeth to warn off the boys. She was small and fierce and Korben wasn't going to let her get hurt by a bunch of punks. Korben withdrew his gun and stepped forward towards them.

"Hey, get away from that cat!" he shouted as he pointed his gun towards the sky. He wasn't going to shoot anyone, but he also wasn't stupid to try and wade in without a visible weapon. The city had grown meaner the last couple of years. Why else would grown men try to attack a cat?

It took a little blustering on Korben's part, but he managed to get them to scram out of the alleyway. Once they were gone, Korben turned his attention back towards the cat. She was sitting on her hind legs just staring at him, like she didn't know what to make of him. He didn't know what to make of her either.

"Well, you're safe now, sweetie. Try not to get into anymore trouble." As Korben turned to leave, he heard her meow.

He looked back at her and saw she had walked a few steps closer towards him. Her tail wagged back and forth as she gave him a curious look. Korben thought it looked curious. It wasn't like he spent a lot of time around cats before. He knelt down and held out a hand, wondering what the cat would do.

The cat sniffed the air and walked closer to him. She sniffed his hand before she looked up and meowed at him. She may have been a cat, but Korben knew a command when he heard one. He sighed.

"I guess you're coming home with me, sweetie."

She meowed like he said the right answer.

*

After he got her cleaned up and took her to the vet, almost getting his face clawed off for that good deed, he took her home. Korben didn't know what to name her. He also didn't know what to do with her, but he figured that he didn't need to do anything. She was a cat. Cats were able to take care of themselves.

Korben sat down on his bed and the cat followed him up with a jump. She didn't sit in his lap but curled herself into a ball on the edge of the bed. The top of her head blocked some of the television screen.

"Hey, down in front."

The cat turned her head back to look at him with disdain before returning her gaze back to the television. She didn't care what he thought. Probably didn't even want him. She was just like his ex wife.

Suddenly, the cat meowed and had come close enough to rub her side against him. Korben reached out and petted her. When he did, she purred and Korben couldn't help but smile. Okay, maybe she wasn't like his ex wife. At least the cat liked him.

"What kind of show do you want to watch, sweetie?"

She meowed as she half fell on his thigh and focused on the screen. The show was some soap opera located on the moon with plenty of drama and antics. It wasn't something he normally watched, but the cat seemed to like it. Maybe she just liked how often they moved on the screen. He continued to pet her until the soap opera ended.

*

He went to work everyday, taking his cab out to find passengers in the busy city, and went home at night. The cat would meow at him when the door opened and pad towards him to rub herself against him. Korben put away his gun in his drop-down gun safe, could never be too safe these days, and bent down to pet the cat. She meowed again and Korben snorted.

"You're turning me domestic, sweetie." He glanced on the shelf where he kept most of her things and noticed there wasn't any cat food on it. Korben groaned as he sat down on his bed to take off his boots. "Damn it, I forgot to go grocery shopping for the both of us. What do you say to delivery?"

She jumped up and climbed into his lap, butting her head against his chest. Korben took that as a yes. He half picked her up so she dangled against him as he went to open his window and press a button to signal he was amiable to food vendors floating nearby.

It didn't take long for one to float towards him, maybe five minutes, and it was a Thai vendor that pulled up next to his window. Korben gently pushed back the cat so she didn't tumble out of the window and looked at the menu board with a list of all their dishes.

Korben ordered something for himself and something with a lot of meat for the cat. He paid and waited for the cook to prepare their food. The cat was utterly fascinated by the cook, or maybe it was the food itself, and Korben held her still while she observed him cooking.

Korben thanked the cook as he handed over the dishes and Korben set down the cat's plate. "This one's yours, sweetie."

The cat hopped up on the ledge and sniffed the meal before digging in. Korben smiled before picking up his chopsticks and digging in himself.

The two of them fell into a familiar routine. Every day Korben would wake up and get ready for work. He'd turn on the television to keep her preoccupied while he was gone. Then he'd come home and watch mindless television with her. It was a good routine, boring, but he needed boring after the chaos he experienced while in the military.

The cat meowed and sprawled across the bed. Maybe not exactly boring with a cat around. Korben would never admit it, but sometimes he spent minutes just watching her be a cat. He may not like being a cab driver all that much, who did, and his mother continued to call him to nag at him, but he liked having a cat around. He even got her a tank filled with fake fish to amuse her.

Finger would tell him he was going soft if he knew, but Korben would tell him to shove it. 

She meowed again and Korben scratched under her chin. "Yeah, yeah, you're the best. Don't think I'll find anyone else like you."

Then Korben met Leeloo and his world turned upside down in a few short days. Saving the world was a time consuming business and after the world was safe, after he and Leeloo got together, he returned to his apartment. To his cat.

As soon as the door slid open, his cat came running towards him and Korben knelt down to pick her up. "I'm so sorry, sweetie! I swear I didn't abandon you."

She meowed ferociously as she butted her head against him over and over again. Korben lifted his gaze to look at the rest of his apartment and winced when he saw how much of a mess the cat had made in his absence. "I deserved that. I brought you donuts as a peace offering."

Leeloo stared at the cat and the cat stared back at her. Dallas chuckled and lifted the cat towards Leeloo. "Leeloo, this is my cat. Cat, this is Leeloo, the Fifth Element and my fake bride."

When Leeloo raised her eyebrow at him, Korben shrugged his shoulders. "Your multi pass says we're married. We can have a real wedding later on the President's dime."

Leeloo rolled her eyes as she picked up the cat from him. "You're just lucky I love you. What is the cat's name?"

"Never named her. I sometimes call her sweetie." Korben watched as the cat nuzzled her nose against Leeloo's cheek and Leeloo laughing, amusement written all over her face.

Yeah, he was definitely lucky.


End file.
